


Hell or High Water

by CrypticBoi



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Nen, I suck at tags, M/M, im shortening the age gap, its a 3 year dif now, main story krpk is 21 and krr is 24, prologue krpk is 16 krr is 19
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:21:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27807463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrypticBoi/pseuds/CrypticBoi
Summary: On his twelfth birthday, Kurapika's home is set on fire. no one survives and it is ruled out as an accident. Kurapika doesn't believe this and is dead set on finding who did it, so he teams up with someone he met in his youth.tldr; Kurapika keeps having shitty birthdays(I'm sorry i suck at summaries)
Relationships: Kurapika/Kuroro Lucifer | Chrollo Lucifer
Kudos: 20





	Hell or High Water

**Kurapika’s Twelfth Birthday**

_No_

_No no no_

All Kurapika can see is red, all he can smell is smoke. There's people shouting yet all he can hear is his blood rushing through his body. His stomach feels as if he just swallowed lead. 

He tries to run to his home, but strong arms hold him back. He's too busy staring at the dance of reds and yellows and oranges to care but he guesses it's one of the many firemen on the scene.

This wasn't how today was supposed to go. He was supposed to be at home with his parents, with Pairo, celebrating his birthday. He should have never left. He should be with them, eating cake and telling stories. Yet he had to go a few blocks away. For what? A pack of gum, shitty bungee gum. It didn't even taste that good.

His family home was up in flames. Completely. The upstairs look that it has collapsed in on itself, unable to hold its weight. All of his memories in that home, when he would help his mother cook, when he would bug his dad to play with him and the cheers that would follow once he gave in, and stealing books that he wasn't allowed to read and staying up with Pairo under a thin sheet with a dim flashlight to read it to him. All of that, all of who he was as a person, gone. Up in flames along with his home. Though it's not his home anymore. It will just be a pile of ash. The flames are too powerful, too hungry to be stopped in time.

Once the last of the flames died out, Kurapika stood there feeling empty. A comforting hand landed on his shoulder and he was tugged further away from the ashes. He was sat down in the bed of an ambulance and one of those shiny blankets you see in movies were wrapped around him. 

He doesn't really register what the woman was saying, though he did catch some words that truly chilled him to his bones. 

_No survivors_

_Quick_

_No one saw it coming_

_An accident_

One thing for sure though, when a week later he got news that the family jewels were not recovered in the remains yet all three skeletons of his most loved ones were, it was no accident. 

**4 years later**

Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, making his legs move forward, his arms swinging. How does he always end up in shitty situations? He was currently being chased by two policemen and it wasn't even his fault. Some skeevy dude lured him onto someone's property as a distraction to rob the place or something.

He keeps running, zigzagging through buildings that get more deserted the deeper he goes. He slips in through a door that was slightly open and that he was sure wouldn't make any noise when he passed through. He hugs himself close to the wall and tries to calm his breathing. The two officers rush past the door without a second glance, and once Kurapika is sure they are gone he extracts himself from the wall.

He walks further into the building, observing the ruined artwork and cobwebs adorning the walls. He walks down the hall and enters into a large room. He sees candles with wax drooping over the sides, frozen in time from the fast cooling caused by the cold air breeze that seems to be constantly moving throughout this building. 

He hears shuffling, and jumps, though he will never admit he did. He waits a few seconds and writes it off as just a mouse. He moves on through the room. Then he starts noticing the sign that he should have since the beginning. The crates scattered across the room look new, way newer than this building, and when he opens one he sees-

CRASH

_Shit! That definitely wasn't an animal._ He slams the crate shut and, with his heart beating a million miles per second, rushes to the exit. But before he can leave the room there is a hit to the back of his head and his world goes black.

**An Hour Later**

His head is pounding and there is a dull pain in his shoulder. Slowly his senses come back to him and all he can hear is yapping from two men coming somewhere to his left. He realizes he's been gagged by some cloth that has who knows how many diseases, and that he's been tied to a rickety chair by some rope that definitely is going to cause a rash. 

He tries to open his eyes but even the little amount of light coming from a nearby candle is too much for his pounding headache. Someone grabs his hair and forces his head up.

“Don’t pretend to sleep, bastard,” a raspy voice says, and Kurapika wishes he actually was sleeping, at least to get away from all this pain. 

He slowly opens his eyes and sees that a short man with a scarf covering his lower face is way too close to comfort. He tried to close his eyes again but got another tug on his hair for his efforts.

“So,” Kurapika looks over to the grizzly of a man who spoke “ Feitan what are we gonna do with this kid?”

“Shut up Uvo” the short man,Feitan, says, “ I think you already know what's going to happen.”

The man with an impressive top not and samurai sword standing next to so called Uvo speaks up, “Are you seriously gonna torture this kid Feitan, I mean he doesn't look all that useful.”

_What the actual fuck are they talking about? Great, they aren’t just thieves, they are also murderers too._ Just how does Kurapika end up in these situations? This obviously has to be a dream, it would be great if he could just wake up already. 

His eyes scan the room. His head is still head up by Feitan, and really if it wasn't then his head would surely be to his chest by now. His eyes land on a woman with an impressive nose and a blazer that barely covers her chest, and he isn't sure if it's because of the style of blazer or because of the size of her breasts. 

She stares back at him for a moment before getting up and walking over to where he is sitting. _Oh great another psycho here to touch me._ Instead of coming to slap him, she lays a hand on top of Feitan’s shoulder.

“Why don't we wait until Danchou’s back to decide what to do.”

Finally his hair is let go of and he must have mustered up enough strength because his head didn't immediately fall. Feitan grumbles and stalks off to hop up and sit on one of the many crates. The woman smiles down at him with sympathy. _If you really had sympathy you would untie me._

Everyone scatters at that point supposedly waiting for their ‘Danchou’. Uvo and top knot head out of the room and honestly Kurapika is grateful. They are just saving him from getting a worse headache. The woman sits on one of the chairs nearby, identical to his. 

A few minutes go by when a new pair arrives. A blond man who looks way too cheery and a shorter pink haired woman with a resting bitch face. 

“Hey Paku! Feitan!” the blond calls from the entryway and makes his way over to Kurapika. “Ah so you guys really weren't kidding, you caught some kid in here.”

When the blond reaches Kurapika, he places his hand on his shoulder and squeezes and it takes everything in Kurapika not to yelp when it sends a sharp pain all throughout his arm. 

The fucker finally lets go, claps once, and exclaims “Wow he really is stubborn!”

It takes, what Kurapika guesses, around 15 minutes of him having to listen to the blond bitch chattering happily and the pink one chiming in with monotone comments before another group of people walk in. one of the people has to be their Danchou because once they enter everyone straightens up and the tension in the room gets heavy. 

Kurapika’s guess is the one in the middle even though he's way shorter compared to the mountain of a fan he walks next to. The air he has around him gives a type of energy one would find in the leaders of the world . The leader walks closer to the middle of the room and looks straight at Kurapika. His stare is cold and Kurapika can't read this guy for anything.

Instead of looking this man in his eyes he scans over the outfit he's wearing. He has no shirt on showing off his very muscular torso. _Does this guy have a big ego or is he trying to compensate for something?_ His black pants that one would find in _Propaganda_ hug his legs and he's wearing heavy combat boots, yet when he walks toward him, Kurapika can barely hear his footsteps. On top of all that he is wearing the ugliest jackets Kurapika has ever seen. _God did this man ever leave his emo phase? Who even wears all black anymore?_

Emo boss dude pulls a chair from where the woman, Paku, is sitting and places it across from Kurapika. He takes a seat and leans forward so his elbows are on his knees. He lifts a hand to remove the gag from Kurapika’s mouth. His cold fingers brushed against Kurapikas lips and he shivered and not the type of shiver you would expect if you were being touched by the human equivalent of Count Von Count. 

He leaned back and looked expectantly at Kurapika. Then he leans back forward and taps his chin and exclaims “I’m Kuroro, what about you?”

Kurapika weighs his options. He could either not answer and most likely Feitan will be siked on him or he could answer him with a fake name, though Kurapika has a feeling Kuroro will know if he's lying. Not that Kurapika is a bad liar, but this man could probably see it in his eyes if he lies. Plus the man already gave him his name, even if it wasn't his real name. So he makes his decision.

“It’s Kurapika,” he croaks out. _When did his voice get so scratchy?_

“Thank you Kurapika” _was that even necessary?_ “ Now, why are you here?”

Kurapika can’t help but glare, “Cause your men tied me to a chair.”

Kuroro chuckles and dammit, if the man wasn't so creepy he might have found it cute. He gets up and goes behind Kurapika’s chair, and the blonde can't help but tense up. Soon the ropes binding him to the chair are loose and he's being pulled up by strong hands. 

_Well this wasn’t what I was expecting but I won't complain._

“Well I think this was all a misunderstanding, you may go now,” Kuroro says as he hands him back his phone and wallet. Dammit! He didn't even realize they were missing.

“But Danchou!” that blond bastard started to protest “ What if he goes to the police!?” 

“He won't Shal, I think he understands what will happen if he were to,” Kuroro says to Shal, then turns to face Kurapika, still with that hand on his shoulder, “Don't you Kurapika?” 

Kuroro’s hand grips his shoulder tighter but not hard enough to hurt. _Wow, how nice of him._ They stare but not for long because the cold hard look Kuroro sends his way makes Kurapika turn his head to the floor and nod obediently. 

Not a single word of protest is uttered as Kuroro leads Kurapika out of the building. Once they reach outside, Kuroro finally lets go of Kurapika, but not without a pat on the back.

“I hope to see you again soon, Kurapika” Kuroro says when Kurapica starts walking away.

_Can't say I share the sentiment, creep._

**A Month Later**

Babysitting kicks his ass most of the time but he really needs the money, so here he is, on the couch of some nice woman's apartment playing Candy-Land with two eleven year old boys. The news was running on the t.v. in front of them but none of them were paying attention.

That was until the words _sudden fire_ caught Kurapika’s attention. His head shot up and on the news with the caption ‘kitchen fire kills family’ was footage of a cute home up in flames.

Fuck. He knows fires and accidents happen but this feeling in his gut is begging him to keep watching. 

It was a home in the suburbs. Three people in the home. No survivors. 

This couldn't be a coincidence. 

He now knew. He knew that his house was targeted and if he ever wanted to catch the people responsible for this he would need access to stuff normal people don't. He needed to move up in the world, and the best place to start was to apply to college. Thank god he didn’t drop out of high school.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> if ya want to talk krkr with me on instagram or twitter they both are @quickdrawfrog


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